A history of documentary photography

Early documentary photography focused primarily on urban settings and industry, photographers often used photography as a tool in order to change society’s norm. For example Walker Evans photographed famers during the time of depression in America in order to demonstrate how the depression had effected the farmer’s lives, furthermore, Lewis Hine’s images aided in passing the child labour law in America. During the 1930s the idea of a message or story being translated through a single or set of images began. The Magnum Photography Agency formed in 1947, Henri Cartier-Bresson was one of the main photographers in the group at the time. A great deal of war photography came from Magnum photographers.

The definition of documentary is ‘an actual event e.g. life story, that purports to be factually accurate and contains no fictional elements.’ Although this sums up the meaning of documentary the part which translates to the artistic side is concerned with the morality and ethos of the subject. Documentary photography has proven to be a powerful tool used and sometimes manipulated in order to change real life situations for example the most current image which has caused uproar concerning the situation is of the migrant crisis.